Tuesday, 18 March 2025

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (13:21): With so much investment coming to Sunshine, the suburb is fast becoming the place to be, and that is why I was so proud to be down in Sunshine this weekend with the Minister for Multicultural Affairs to kick off works at Australia’s first Vietnamese museum. This museum will commemorate and celebrate the incredible story of Vietnamese migration to Australia, from refugees fleeing war and persecution to the incredible contributions made by the Vietnamese Australians to our great Australian story. I want to acknowledge the amazing work and advocacy of Tammy Nguyen, Bruce Mildenhall and the rest of the team at the Vietnamese Museum Australia in securing a site for this project. This project would not have been possible without support and investment from both levels of Labor governments, including over $6.7 million in funding from the Allan Labor government to support the construction of this museum, with a further announcement on Sunday of an additional $2 million to ensure the project’s completion. And of course a big shout-out to the support and donations from local community members who have supported the VMA over these many, many years and helped them secure this project. Thanks to them, shovels are now in the ground, and I cannot wait to see the museum up and running once works are finished. There is so much coming for Sunshine and the surrounding area, and this project is yet another example of how we are supporting investment in Melbourne’s west.